July 2018

by Robin Astle.

Extracts from FBHVC 2018 Newsletter No 2

CLEAN AIR MATTERS by Bob Owen

This remains a matter of major concern, and the subject of intense Government activity.

LEZs

Recent Government announcements suggest that LEZs will be rolling out rapidly in urban areas. Each will come with its own Consultation and as in each case aspects of the proposals may vary; the Federation will do its best to pick up on any variations which affect our members’ vehicles. By and large most are following the framework proposed by Government which does exempt vehicles in the ‘historic’ taxation class.

In the recent past we have commented upon the proposals to bring the London ULEZ forward and to extend its operation to the North and South Circular Roads. There we have been able to confine our comments to some important matters of process and procedure, as the position of historic vehicles, including heritage buses, in London is well established.

MOTs and IVAs

Rather more seriously, at the beginning of February, DfT issued a consultation, permitting only four weeks’ response time, entitled ‘Road Vehicles: Improving Air Quality and Safety’.

This Consultation is largely concerned with major matters such as penalising the use of ‘defeat devices’ in diesel vehicles, which are not of our concern. But, almost as an afterthought, it included proposals to limit, through changes to the MOT test, the ability of Kit Cars and some other totally ill-defined ‘classic’ vehicles to obtain IVAs (Individual Vehicle Approval).

This at a stroke would destroy an important element of the kit car building business and could put at risk a number of ongoing private projects. Furthermore, as it was drafted, it could have worked retrospectively to affect the standards for MOT tests for vehicles with existing IVAs.

The Impact Assessment, which is required for all Consultations, made only the most fleeting reference to the businesses affected, had clearly made no assessment of the effects and showed a total failure to understand the importance in the kit movement for the use of historic engines or the reasons for doing so. It was clear there had been no engagement with the builders or the enthusiast owners.

The Federation made a robust response to the relevant aspects of the Consultation calling for the proposals to be withdrawn. But the Federation was so concerned that it has also entered a protest on the grounds that the Consultation breached the Government’s own Principles for Consultation and brought the situation to the attention of Sir Greg Knight MP, Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Historic Vehicles Group who has to our knowledge taken the matter further.

DVLA by Ian Edmunds

DVLA Sections and Post Codes

First registration applications for an age related number (imported vehicle, or ‘found vehicle’ with no known previous GB registration number)

First registration team
DVLA
Swansea
SA99 1BE

V765 and Reconstructed classic applications

K&R
DVLA
Swansea
SA99 1ZZ

Changes to a registered vehicle (including date of manufacture)

CCU
DVLA
Swansea
SA99 1BA

• K&R is Kits and Rebuilds

• CCU is Central Capture Unit

It will be appreciated that it is often not appropriate or helpful to comment on matters which are still in progress, thus although there is currently a lot going on I have very little on which I can report. Suffice to say that discussions continue with DVLA on several aspects of ‘Q’ plate registrations and on the registration of imported vehicles which were originally sent to their destination country in CKD form. In the case of the latter it seems that some misunderstandings within DVLA that we believed had been resolved some time ago have reappeared. Obviously, we will report on the outcome of these discussions at the earliest opportunity.

We have also pointed out to DVLA that there seems to be a resurgence of unhelpful rejection letters which list all the reasons why a registration application may have been rejected without providing the applicant with any detail of the shortcomings of their particular application.

Finally, we learn from the national press that the CEO of DVLA, Oliver Morley, left to take up a new position in March.

Julie Lennard has been appointed interim Chief Executive of DVLA from 19 March. DVLA’s interim Chief Executive Julie Lennard said: “I’m really looking forward to leading the team here in Swansea at a time when the agency is taking great steps in innovative digital services for motorists.”

The DVLA is an executive agency of the Department for Transport. It is responsible for maintaining over 48 million driver records and almost 40 million vehicle records. It collects around £6 billion a year in Vehicle Excise Duty. The agency employs over 5,000 people and is based in Swansea.

GDPR by David Whale

Many of you have been asking what information we can provide on the forthcoming General Data Protection Regulations? Please be assured we have been trying to identify a company who can truly provide expert advice and now we have found them! The Federation has commissioned a company called Nettitude who is a member of the Lloyd’s Register group to write a bespoke briefing for all our members. There is a lot of conflicting advice in circulation and we knew it was critical to identify the correct company to support our members. This organisation has already provided expert advice to one of the very largest clubs in the UK; Emma and I attended one of their one day seminars. The gentleman delivering the advice and now creating our document is an enthusiast and club member.

Now you may say this is rather close to 25th May but remember the GDPR regulations come into force on that day, it is the start of the journey, not the end and we are quite sure the Information Commissioner’s Office is not going to start pursuing our member clubs on day one. Also remember there is no single solution to comply with GDPR, each organisation needs to understand their own responsibilities and organisational structure. The practical implications of GDPR are only becoming clear in the last few weeks and will continue to evolve as the ICO starts to apply the Regulations and make judgments.

Our briefing will be produced as a pdf document and will be sent automatically by Emma to all members on receipt from Nettitude, we expect this to be a day or two prior to the Regulations coming into force.

In the meantime, general information is available by visiting the Information Commissioner’s Office website https:// ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-general-dataprotection-regulation-gdpr/